FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions – Tacoma Photographic Society

This page is a collection of FAQs about our Society, our Website, and our Area.

On This Page

Tacoma Photographic Society
Our Website
Hot Photo Spots
Website Procedures

Website Competitions

Tacoma Photographic Society

How Often do you meet?

We usually meet twice a month. First Thursday for Projected Images. Third Thursday for Printed Images.
We usually do not meet in July and August.

Where do you meet?

We usually meet at Bates Technical College South in Tacoma. Please consult the meeting information in the online calendar post.

How do I Enter a Competition?

Competitions are open to any active member of the Society.
Check the Society Calendar for open competitions.
Check the pages under the Competition Tab: Projection Division; Print Division; Society Competition; for the rules. There are links to past and future competitions on each of those pages.

Our Website

How do I change my password?

There are two ways to change your password.
1. On the Login Page – click Lost your password? at the bottom of the login form.
2. On the My Membership Page – go to the bottom of the page and fill in the form.

How do I change my Email?

Log in with your username or old email. Navigate to the Membership > My Membership Page
Complete the form. Note that all fields with a * after the field name are required. You must complete them.

Where are the Judging Criteria?

The Criteria for Judging is laid out in the Society Bylaws in the section describing Monthly Competitions
The page: Judging Guidelines, under the Competition tab expands on these criteria.

How are images judged on this website?

There is a page, Juried Competition Steps, which provides the step by step process that a judge uses for scoring competition images. The actual score given to an image is decided based on the Society’s Judging Criteria, and the opinion of the Judge.
The Society selects members who are recognized to have a good eye and are known to provide impartial opinions of the work of our members.

Hot Photo Spots

Some places where our members bring home great images

Tacoma Museum of Glass

The iconic Museum of Glass, the fountains, Foss Waterway, the Washington Museum of History, the Federal Courthouse, the UW Tacoma Campus – and so much more!

Point Defiance Park and Zoo

Many a prize-winning photo has been captured here be it in the Rose Garden or the Zoo.

Mt Rainier National Park

No visit to the area is complete without a visit to this park.
* Alpine Wildflowers in late July – August
* Night photography – milky way – from Sunrise
* Waterfalls
* Spectacular Mountains

Titlow Park and Beach

Members have displayed some superb photographs of birds taken at this location.
Metro Parks, Tacoma – Titlow

Website Procedures

This set of FAQs are visible to Admins, Editors and Authors only. They provide a quick reference on how to do things to this website. Ideally, the short answer links to a post which provides a more detailed answer. All these posts will be found under the category: Procedures.

If the answer to the question is not complete, it may be that the Procedure post has not been written yet.

Website Competitions

What are the states of a Competition?

A competition has the following states:
1. Created, but not started
2. Open for Entries
3. Open for Judging by a Jury
4. Open for Popular Vote
5. Closed and Complete

How is a competition created?

The procedure for creating a competition is found on this article: How to create a competition

How is a Competition Opened for Entries?

Opening a competition for entries is an automatic process. The competition schedule is set when it is created. Members may upload entries to this website on the date set into the competition software. More information may be found in this article: How to create a competition

How is a Competition Closed for Entry and Opened for Judging?

A competition is closed for entry automatically at the end of the day scheduled when the competition was created. For TPS additional steps are required. This article steps through the procedure: How to Close a Competition for Entry and Open it for Judging

How is a Competition Closed for Judging and Opened for Popular Vote?

Judging is the process where a panel of judges review all of the images in a competition and assign a score to each image.
Judging closes on the date scheduled in the competition configuration. This is automatic.
Before the competition can be opened for Popular Vote, the competition must be reconfigured. The procedural steps for this process can be found in this article:

How is a Competition Closed and the results prepared?

When the competition was created, it was configured with an end date. The competition will close to all new activity when on that end date. This is an automatic process.
In preparation for the Society Division Meeting, the results must be tabulated, a post created to recognize the winners, and the competition page reconfigured to enable the meeting review process.
This article provides the procedures which must be followed:

What WordPress plugin does the Society use for online competitions?

The Society uses a plugin called: Photo Contest WordPress Plugin.
The plugin maker documentation is here: https://galleryplugins.com/photo-contest/
The Society does not make any endorsements or recommendations about this plugin, it is the plugin we are currently using.